Rescue Group Raises Concerns Over Animal Shelter

A Webster County group is voicing issues over conditions at the county animal shelter.

A Webster County animal rescue group says the animal shelter there isn't fit for dogs.

More than three years ago, shelter officials were accused of animal cruelty. And now, some are concerned about its conditions.

For years, the Webster County Animal Shelter's housed stray or lost dogs. But for Jessica Graham of Molly's Mutts Animal Rescue, that house isn't fit for the animals.

"Most of the time when we go in there, there's always a lot of poop in there," Graham says. She adds there are dirty conditions, and too many dogs in the pens.

"There's usually four or five dogs in there, of various sizes together, males together with females," Graham claims.

Those are just some of the accusations rescue members are making about the shelter. Webster county sheriffs deputies are also investigating into how several dogs, including one dog the rescue group alleges was supposed to have been put to sleep, went missing from the shelter, and were found eight miles away.

"We clean the pens between two to three times a day," Parrish says. "They're sprayed out once in the morning. We try to do it right after lunch, and then, not long before we go home."

"I think they're as good as they can be, with what we have to work with," Townsend adds.

Townsend adds they're working on a new animal shelter to be built here, just a few miles from the current one. But some think while it could help, more needs to be done about current conditions -- making it a better home.

"There needs to be a complete overhaul of the dog pound."

Graham also says she doesn't think the shelter is being cleaned often enough because of the number of dogs being housed there.

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